Tuesday, April 24, 2007
The great moral challenges of our generation
"The moral challenge of our time is not vastly different from the challenge earlier generations faced," Mr Howard said in response to Rudds claim that climate change is "the great moral challenge of our generation"..
So who is right, and will moral challenges be the key challenges in the next election . Who would have thought it- in April 2007 - not too many labor leaders i can think of Australia's recent past .
Is morality bunk, or do we have a stand of Thomas More proportions here ? I'll vote for a man of all seasons sort of drama ( prayer vs macheavelli)
So the answer to the first question is easy . Only fools ignore the power of those who act from a sense of moral choice and only fools pretend that Machaevelli had any any answers for those who think they can manipulate history at such times .
As for whether climate change is a moral choice, this is another matter. I suggest that the issues of needed environment change will get lost in the game of obfsication that is really the big political game of the day .
Climate change is NOW a token because the real issue behind it, is whether we as westerners are really eating up the future- a much more important issue, but one that is not being stated because the public seem to want and demand something they can deal with - yes or No climate change . We have offered our tokens - now lets go !
If the election 2007 is about moral challenges , perhaps the one who will win the election will be one who assuages guilt and false guilt best? If you are a sustainability scientist you know its not about identifying and dealing with the real choices we could be making.
Following the lead of history and something like Thomas More's challenge to Henry I would vote for guilt being the big hidden issue and obfiscation the explenation for much of the confusuion .
Maybe as in Henry's 8th 's day the quick way to deal with moral choices is to make sure they go away ? Henry might have stopped More, but not what he stood for.
So who is right, and will moral challenges be the key challenges in the next election . Who would have thought it- in April 2007 - not too many labor leaders i can think of Australia's recent past .
Is morality bunk, or do we have a stand of Thomas More proportions here ? I'll vote for a man of all seasons sort of drama ( prayer vs macheavelli)
So the answer to the first question is easy . Only fools ignore the power of those who act from a sense of moral choice and only fools pretend that Machaevelli had any any answers for those who think they can manipulate history at such times .
As for whether climate change is a moral choice, this is another matter. I suggest that the issues of needed environment change will get lost in the game of obfsication that is really the big political game of the day .
Climate change is NOW a token because the real issue behind it, is whether we as westerners are really eating up the future- a much more important issue, but one that is not being stated because the public seem to want and demand something they can deal with - yes or No climate change . We have offered our tokens - now lets go !
If the election 2007 is about moral challenges , perhaps the one who will win the election will be one who assuages guilt and false guilt best? If you are a sustainability scientist you know its not about identifying and dealing with the real choices we could be making.
Following the lead of history and something like Thomas More's challenge to Henry I would vote for guilt being the big hidden issue and obfiscation the explenation for much of the confusuion .
Maybe as in Henry's 8th 's day the quick way to deal with moral choices is to make sure they go away ? Henry might have stopped More, but not what he stood for.
